Life in the fast lane: Arizona home to four of the top five best cities to drive in

By Taylor Kinnerup | July 13, 2016 at 5:35 amUPDATED: July 13, 2016 at 11:20 am

(AP Photo/LM Otero)

PHOENIX — Since it’s too hot to walk outside in this heat, it’s a good thing Arizona is home to four of the top five best cities to drive in.

While most U.S. drivers spend average of about 200 hours on the road and another 41 hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Arizonans seem to be living life in the fast lane.

According to WalletHub, Scottsdale, Tucson, Gilbert and Mesa are four of the five best cities in which to hit the road.

The list compared 100 major U.S. cities based on four categories: ownership and car maintenance costs, traffic conditions and infrastructure quality, auto safety and auto and maintenance accessibility.

Scottsdale topped the list with nearly 70 points out of a possible 100, thanks mostly to their third-place ranking in traffic conditions.

Tucson came in second, placing in the top 10 best cities for car maintenance costs and traffic conditions.

Gilbert was the fourth-best city due to ranking seventh in overall auto safety.

Mesa rounded out the top five, falling just short of Gilbert by .01 points.

Chandler just missed the top five overall but was ranked highly because it has one of the lowest car-theft rates of the cities surveyed.

Phoenix and Glendale were also ranked in the top 20 because of their overall traffic conditions and infrastructure.